THE statement made by Minister for Railways, Azam Khan Swati, before the Senate Standing Committee on Railways on Tuesday, once again highlighted the pathetic conditions prevailing in the country’s otherwise largest institution that has the potential not only to take care of its own affairs but can also contribute significantly to the national economy.
He stated that electricity worth Rs 2 billion is stolen annually in Pakistan Railways and this can be stopped only if 54,000 electricity meters are installed.
The Minister did not explain the problem but a report appearing in media last year revealed that those living in railway colonies are using meter-less electricity and the burden is borne by the organization.
It was also reported that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given directions for installation of meters in four months but strangely enough neither railway nor WAPDA (discos) took any measure to stop this pilferage and they feel themselves absolved of the responsibility after merely narrating the problem.
This is just one example of how the department is run and most pressing issues, which involve no worthwhile investment and can be resolved through a little effort, are left unattended for years.
We have been emphasizing in these columns since long that Pakistan Railways can be transformed into a profitable institution provided it is run in a professional manner, corruption is stemmed and redundancies are addressed.
This was amply proved by the then Railway Minister Saad Rafiq, whose sound policies pushed the income of PR beyond Rs 40 billion, number of passengers increased from just 12.5 million to 54.5 million per annum, punctuality of trains increased to 77% and there was threefold increase in the number of freight trains.
He discarded the practice of seeking frequent financial injections from the Federal Government and improved performance through hard-work, administrative actions and cooperation of the staff.
There is no reason the department should suffer losses when it enjoys monopoly in the field and has the necessary paraphernalia to earn handsomely.
Azam Swati is a doer but one fails to understand why he has not been able to remove hurdles in the way of professional and financial improvements in the organization.
There is no dearth of studies and recommendations to reform the institution and one only needs to embark upon the path of implementation to achieve the desired goals.
Successive studies and investment projects have examined the important dimensions of reform including rationalization of the tariff structure, flexibility to change tariffs, removal of biases favouring passenger services over freight, track access charges to enable private operators to enter the market, market regulation, staff reduction, changing from a bureaucratic organization to a corporatized entity operating along commercial lines with a strong customer focus, improving business processes (e.g., for investment appraisal), a PSO mechanism, improving rolling stock maintenance including establishing an asset management system, and strengthening the railway safety management system.
ML-I project has the potential to modernize the railway system and make it a popular mode of travel and freight but regrettably it is not receiving the focus that it deserved to receive.
Despite approval in principle, there are still issues that impede actual implementation of the highly beneficial project including the mode of financing, which could be settled on a priority basis through meticulous dialogue with the Chinese authorities.
Implementation of this project would require acquisition of a new fleet, which will in turn demand upgradation and establishment of workshops; focus on research and development; and proper/timely training of the manpower.
It is time to initiate plans and programmes on all these and other aspects of the plan to modernize Pakistan Railways.
The management should also explore possibilities of initiating joint ventures with the private sector and other countries on local manufacturing and maintenance facilities, which would not only help create more employment opportunities but also scope for exports.
Experts also propose that the ML-I project should take care of future extension of railway links to neighbouring countries, especially Afghanistan (Peshawar-Jalalabad-Kabul-Mazar-e-Sharif railway, Chaman-Spinboldak-Kandahar-Herat-Serhetabad) besides upgradation and renovation of Quetta-Taftan section of ML3.
The Minister, who has the necessary vision, would hopefully make a beginning to address the avoidable loss of two billion rupees by prioritizing installation of meters and have brainstorming sessions with his technical team to kick-start other dimensions of reforms in Pakistan Railways.
